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In the US, some 80% of the fresh water withdrawn from rivers and groundwater is used to produce food and other agricultural products. [1] Farm water may include water used in the irrigation of crops or the watering of livestock. Its study is called agricultural hydrology. Water is one of the most fundamental parts of the global economy.
Irrigation schemes in the world use about 3 500 km 3 water per year, of which 74% is evaporated by the crops. [7] This is some 80% of all water used by mankind (4 400 km 3 per year). The water used for irrigation is roughly 25% of the annually available water resources (14 000 km 3) and 9% of all annual river discharges in the hydrological cycle.
Consumptive water use is water removed from available supplies without return to a water resource system (e.g., water used in manufacturing, agriculture, and food preparation that is not returned to a stream, river, or water treatment plant).
Micro-irrigation is a system that distributes water under low pressure through a piped network and applies it as a small discharge to each plant. Micro-irrigation uses less pressure and water flow than sprinkler irrigation. Drip irrigation delivers water directly to the root zone of plants.
Because agriculture is a major user of withdrawn water, changes in the magnitude and efficiency of its water use are important. In the US, from 1980 (when agriculture's withdrawn water use peaked) to 2010, there was a 23 percent reduction in agriculture's use of withdrawn water, [54] while US agricultural output increased by 49 percent over ...
Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either freshwater from natural sources, or water produced artificially from other sources, such as from reclaimed water or desalinated water (). 97% of the water on Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh ...
David Hoekema, a hydrologist at the Idaho Department of Water Resources, told USA TODAY, “in northern Idaho, most of the agriculture there's rain-fed and the spring crops, especially spring ...
The system is used in parts of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, [8] and in desert areas such as the Sahara and the Middle East. Center pivots are typically less than 500 meters (1,600 ft) in length (circle radius) with the most common size being the standard 400-meter ( 1 ⁄ 4 mi) machine, which covers about 50 hectares (125 ...